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Following the third fight of the UFC 166, commentator Joe Rogan proclaimed the Lightweight fight between the two former Lightweight contenders Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez as the greatest fight he's ever seen. And it was an incredible battle. Both "El Nino" and "The Dream" swung for the fences for the entire 15-minute contest. It was an absolutely amazing display of heart from Sanchez who was cut early in the fight and continued on despite twice being examined by the ringside physician. In the end, regardless of his late-fight rally, Sanchez lost a unanimous decision in a valiant effort.

I don't want to take anything away from Sanchez here. Regardless of his status as a former contender, he was unranked going into this fight against the #2 Lightweight in the UFC. He was out of his league and a close decision win over a 2013 Takanori Gomi didn't qualify him to face Gil. That said, he gave every ounce he had in the attempt to pull off the upset, and despite clearly being outmatched, he was absolutely relentless and almost pulled off a huge upset in the third round when he rocked his opponent. Sanchez deserves every bit of respect an MMA fan has to offer for his performance at UFC 166.

There's one problem with this though. While it was a valiant effort and worthy of praise, it never should have been allowed to happen.

Throughout the first two rounds of the fight Diego was completely outmatched in every aspect of the fight. When he swung at Melendez, he missed and received two punches for each one of his that fell short. When he went for the takedown, he was sprawled on and received more strikes for his efforts. He was not competitive in the fight despite the strength of his heart.

In the second round, the ringside physician was called in to to check out the cut over Diego's left eye. He allowed Diego to continue. At the point, the cut was more minor and it made sense for him to allow him to fight on. However, between the second and third rounds, the cut had worsened. It was a gaping wound that allowed blood to pour down Sanchez's face. Still, the doctor let it continue. Again, midway through the third round, the action was stopped, and the physician allowed the fight to continue once again. Especially in the final check when Sanchez's blood was flowing profusely, it's the ringside physician's job to protect the fighter from himself, not to let him "go out on his shield".

Finally, there's the celebration of the fight itself. If we ignore the cut, Diego was almost entirely uncompetitive throughout. He had minor success early in a grappling exchange and rocked Melendez in the third. Aside from that, he lost the other 14 minutes of the fight. In almost every exchange when Diego really attacked, he whiffed on his punches while taking brutal shots to a sensitive area. It wasn't a back and fourth brawl like Garcia/Zombie I, and it wasn't Shogun/Hendo with a late rally by a hurt fighter. It was Diego Sanchez taking a brutal beating for 14 minutes.

Diego deserves praise for his tenacity in never giving up, but he shouldn't have been put in the position where one of his wild punches landed. After all, the fight shouldn't have gotten to that point anyway. And MMA fans shouldn't praise one-sided beatings as fight of the year candidates.

Diego blew his wad after the first minute of the fight. Too much hyping himself up for the fight, too much making mean faces, too much intensity. All that just built up, and he quickly gassed himself out to fight anywhere close to a technical fight. It was a horrible display of shooting for takedown attempts that weren't there, horrible display of winging wide throwing punches. Melendez made him pay for his unrefined aggressive attack, and outside of that punch that he got caught with in the 3rd round. Gil fought great.

Diego certainly made it a great fight by showing some true warrior spirit but all these "wars" have got to take a toll on his body and brain, and is it worth taking all this punishment just to deliver on a promised hyped up fight?

Like JDS, Diego was successful in the beginning of his career when he wasnt fighting for the sake of putting on entertaining wars. He fought more technically sound with his striking and grappling, and he was winning (legitimately, not being handed gifted decisions). He too, like JDS, blew his wad in the first minute with the adrenaline dump, and was beaten soundly after that. Although, had the fight been 5 rounds, I think the fight would have been a lot closer, as Diego usually gets his second wind back in the 3 round and begins to control the fight. It would have been interesting to see how the fight would have played out had there been 2 more rounds.

Hey ya know what sometimes it's not about winning, it's about truly giving everything you have and having NO REGRETS. Yes it was scary because you don't want to see anyone permanently damaged in a fight, but at the same time you have to let a man fight his fight. Win/Lose/or draw that fight was an inspiration to all those who struggle in life.... A microcosm of what life is sometimes, an unwinnable situation that you just have to bit down and swing against. I think the author missed the beauty of what we witnessed in that fight.

"I don't call the fighting in my films 'violent', I call it 'action'. An action film borders between fantasy and reality. If I were to be completely realistic in my films, you would call me a violent, bloody man. I would simply destroy my opponent by tearing his guts out. I wouldn't do it so artistically." ~Bruce Lee

Hey ya know what sometimes it's not about winning, it's about truly giving everything you have and having NO REGRETS. Yes it was scary because you don't want to see anyone permanently damaged in a fight, but at the same time you have to let a man fight his fight. Win/Lose/or draw that fight was an inspiration to all those who struggle in life.... A microcosm of what life is sometimes, an unwinnable situation that you just have to bit down and swing against. I think the author missed the beauty of what we witnessed in that fight.

I understand what you're saying, but imagine if Diego had fought with the technical skills that he once possessed, because he cared more about winning rather than swinging wildly and taking a beating for the sake of entertainment? The fight would have been just as entertaining, except Diego would have maintained a better cardio pace and not left himself to take all that unneeded punishment. Remember the great battle he had against Koscheck on the show, and FOTY he had with Karo? He fought brilliantly, relying on his skills, rather than his heart to win those fights, and both were very entertaining.

Diego's post fight interview made me queazy and I tend to agree with the sentiment in this article. I think his style is going to catch up to him in about ten years and given the amount of fights and the length of his career already up to this point, he's physically alot older than your average almost 32 year old. Walking forward and just banging makes for awesome, highlight reel fights, but they're not sustainable longterm. While I loved the fight, I'd like to see Jackson and company try to extend Diego's shelf life and post career well-being, by utilizing a little more tact and strategy in his approach. That makes for more mundane fights, but in the longterm, it is probably for the best.